Qatar MotoGP: Fourth quickest Rossi 'not at 100%'

5 April 2013

Valentino Rossi was feeling under the weather as he slipped to fourth place on the free practice timesheets in Qatar.

The Factory Yamaha star conceded he wasn't 'at 100%' after suffering from a severe headache following the opening practice session on Thursday night, which continued to affect the 'Doctor' in FP2 and FP3 on Friday.

Rossi's best time of 1m 56.416s left him 0.332s behind Marquez but only 0.001s ahead of the impressive Andrea Dovizioso on the factory Ducati.

“The track condition was a bit worse for FP2, very dirty and some rain, but better for FP3," said Rossi.

“We still have to decide which tyre to use; that will be very important for Sunday. But in the end my lap time is not so bad, the feeling is good and everybody is very close.

“We are ready for tomorrow for the qualifying practice to try and aim for the front row,” continued Rossi, who was third fastest in FP2 and led for much of FP3 before being overhauled by Marquez, Lorenzo and Crutchlow.

“Yesterday after the practice I had a problem with a very strong headache so I wasn't at 100% today. Now I'm not so bad and coming better and tomorrow I will be at my maximum.”